To my unconventional parents,

Thank you for raising me the way that I needed to be raised. You were ridiculed and berated by all the other parents for not being a part of the parental norm, but you did your job. People never liked how open our relationship was, and they thought you treated me too much like an adult. Thank you for letting me have a voice growing up and also for both defending me.

Having divorced parents was not always the greatest thing, but it honestly was not the worst thing either. Even though my parents were divorced, they co-parented me and even became friends later on. People would throw pity parties for me thinking that I came from a broken family, and while yes, I have gone through some trials, I also have two parents that would do anything for me.

Growing up, I always wished for normalcy among my parents and me. I did not get why we couldn’t just be the nuclear American dream family. My mom was not supposed to be the perfect suburban mom who is up her child’s ass 100 percent of the time, and my father did not golf with his buddies on Saturday morning and drink beers with Bob and Joe from down the street. They are more of your free-spirited type if you will.

My mother travels and is really into spirituality. She went on retreats and spiritual getaways in order to become more enlightened and to become a better mother. She makes me think and helps to expand my mind not by yelling at me, but by teaching me lessons and treating me as a student almost. My father is an actor but also a man who won't turn away anybody. The man sits in rehab facilities and churches helping young people come to terms with their alcoholism and drug addiction. They both counsel people into becoming better people and that is how I was raised. Their lives did not stop when I was born like most peoples do. Their lives began.

I feel like a lot of people think once their children are born, they can not achieve anything else and they have to give 100% of their time to their children. I'd like to mention that I am not a parent and I am not giving advice here, but my parents did not do that. They became better people as I grew up. They are not the same people that I remember when I was little, and that is a good thing. Keep learning because it will help you teach your child too. I like to think that my parents grew with me, and it was more fun that way.

They gave me everything they could but if they gave me too much, they would have fizzled out. They were too free spirited for that. They gave me everything they could and it was exactly what I needed. I needed to be independent it was the kind of child I was. They showed up for every game and every performance, they held my hand and wiped my tears, but they also started giving me freedom at a young age. I was able to decide what I wore, what music I listened to, the people I hung out with, what religion I would follow. They never stopped me from reading certain books, and they always answered my questions.

The amount of times other people of my town would judge my parents was countless. The parents would try and spread rumors about my family. It was ridiculously petty and I am not going to lie it put a strain on our relationship. My family did go through a rough patch because we were pitted against each other by people who were too narrow-minded to see anything but the inside of their white picket fence. I would like to thank those people. Thank you for making my family stronger, and thank you for getting me to appreciate my parents and the way they are. Normalcy does not exist, and that is a good thing. I do not want a normal life, and I have not had one by any means. I’m so thankful for the way I was raised and the life that was handed to me.

Now I am here, this next stage of life. I am a young adult, half way on her own and really scared. I am nervous to take this leap but I am excited to live. Thank you guys. Thank you so much for sacrificing so much while still being who you are. You both continue to make me the happiest daughter in the world because you are both two of the most genuine people I have ever met. You give and give and give and expect nothing in return. I hope I am half the parent you both were, and I hope I make you proud. I love you.

Your daughter